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The future of Interstate 81 in Syracuse, shown in this June 6, 2013 file photo, is being discussed at private meetings the New York State Department of Transportation is holding this week in Syracuse. DOT officials say the meetings are closed to the public.
(Michelle Gabel | mgabel@syracuse.com)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- State transportation officials are holding two closed meetings this week on Interstate 81, the first working group sessions meant to gather input and ideas from the Syracuse area about the future of the highway.

The state Department of Transportation has appointed local business owners, Syracuse developers, union leaders, city and county officials, ministers, low-income housing experts, public safety officers, and others to the two stakeholder groups. (Read the full list here.)

But their meetings, including the first at 3 p.m. today, are closed to the public, according to the state Department of Transportation.

And that has some local elected officials concerned about their roles in shaping the future highway and questioning the state's efforts to engender trust and transparency surrounding the massive project.

"They absolutely dropped the ball," said Syracuse Common Councilor Khalid Bey, a Democrat who represents the neighborhoods and public housing areas surrounding part of the viaduct that is due for replacement.

Bey first heard about the groups and today's meeting by receiving a phone call from a reporter.

"To have a closed-door meeting about something that's running through our city?" he said. "I think the state is a little bit negligent."

Department of Transportation spokesman Beau Duffy said the state invited people "who a represent a variety of area organizations in order to help the department better understand community issues as they relate to the alternatives and their different variations."

The stakeholders' meetings will be monthly, by invitation only, and not open to the public, he wrote in an email.

"These are small groups that will be rolling up their sleeves and diving into the technical detail on the alternatives," Duffy wrote. "The goal is to foster a robust and productive discussion that will assist the Department as the alternatives and variations are further developed."

Invitations did not go to some people who asked to be on one of the groups, like Salina Supervisor Mark Nicotra, who heads a group advocating for I-81 to remain in its current footprint. David Aitken, of Destiny USA, received an unsolicited invitation to be on one of the groups and was planning to attend today's meeting.

Others who asked to be part of the stakeholders' meetings were given a seat at the table.

Tony Mangano, like Nicotra, is a member of SAVE 81. Mangano's family owns four hotels near the intersection of I-81 and the New York State Thruway just north of Syracuse. He was invited to be on the Community and Economic Development Stakeholders' Advisory Working Group.

"I think it's worthwhile for the DOT to sit down with stakeholders and have a focused discussion to see where the decisions head," he said.

The Sustainability Stakeholders' Advisory Working Group is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. Thursday.

The elevated portion of I-81 that runs near downtown Syracuse will reach the end of its useful life in 2017. State and federal officials are beginning a comprehensive look at options for the viaduct and its surrounding neighborhoods. State officials plan to unveil 16 alternatives for the highway at a series of public meetings on May 1.

Like Bey, Onondaga County Legislator Monica Williams represents the neighborhoods around the viaduct. She had heard of the meetings, and thought keeping them closed would play into people's suspicions that decisions will be made without local input.

"This just further goes with what people are saying," she said, "that they are not transparent."

Bill Simmons, the head of the Syracuse Housing Authority that runs that public housing, is on the sustainability group. He said he had very little information about what would be discussed on Thursday, including no agenda or a list of fellow members.

Walt Dixie, who heads the Syracuse Chapter of the National Action Network, asked to be included in the working groups. But he got no invitation letter. Instead, he wrote Mark Frechette, the state's I-81 project director, arguing that people who live in the highway's shadow need more access to the discussion.

Dixie also asked for a list of the working groups' members in the March 26 letter. This morning, he said he'd gotten no response.